"No" to Cuts in U.S. Humanitarian Spending

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

For Immediate release

CWS, other agencies urge lawmakers to spare humanitarian spending from
budget cuts

NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2011--In an attempt to halt U.S. budget cuts that
could be "devastating" to disaster victims, displaced people and
refugees throughout the world, Church World Service has joined several
humanitarian agencies in appealing to lawmakers now deliberating the
nation's proposed spending plan for 2011.

In a February 22 letter to House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority
leader Eric Cantor and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, CWS and
leaders of the nation's foremost faith-based and humanitarian agencies
made the case that draconian cuts outlined in H.R. 1 would severely
hinder the capacity of the United States to mount effective humanitarian
response efforts around the world.

The coalition’s letter posed the scenario that, “in the next major
global humanitarian crisis - the next Haiti, Tsunami, or Darfur - the
United States might simply fail to show up.”

"Church World Service has been responding to disasters since we first
sent shipments of badly needed food to starving people in post-World war
II Europe more than 60 years ago," says CWS Executive Director and CEO
John L. McCullough.   There still are millions of people, from those
mired in poverty to those who have been forced out of their homes, who
need our assistance and protection," McCullough added.

The letter to the House leaders states, "The bill cuts global disaster
aid by 67 percent, global refugee assistance by 45 percent and global
food relief by 41 percent relative to FY10 enacted levels."  

The letter acknowledges the wisdom of reducing the national debt but
cautions lawmakers against abrupt, deep reductions in spending on
humanitarian assistance because such cuts "would imperil the
longstanding U.S. commitment to provide lifesaving humanitarian
assistance for those threatened by disaster and conflict".

Citing America's ability to respond to global disasters like the
drought that now threatens the Horn of Africa and the nearly 40 million
refugees and displaced persons around the world who would be affected if
funds are cut, the letter's signers urged House leaders to fully fund
the programs at 2010 levels. 

To not do so, they wrote, could lead to outcomes that would be
"devastating - for the world’s refugees and conflict victims, for U.S.
interests, and for the United States’ standing and reputation as a
global leader."

Along with McCullough, signers of the letter included heads of ADRA
International, American Jewish World Service, American Refugee
Committee, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, CHF International, ChildFund
International, Food for the Hungry, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society,
International Medical Corps, International Relief and Development,
International Relief Teams, International Rescue Committee, Jesuit
Refugee Service/USA, Life for Relief & Development,  Lutheran World
Relief, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Refugees International, Relief
International, Resolve, Save the Children, Unitarian Universalist
Service Committee, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Women’s
Refugee Commission, World Food Program - USA, World Hope International,
and World Vision.

Founded in 1946, Church World Service is an international humanitarian
agency working with partner organizations throughout the world to
eradicate hunger and poverty, provide emergency response, sustainable
development and refugee assistance and to promote peace and justice.
(www.churchworldservice.org)

Text of the letter is at www.churchworldservice.org/fy11budget 


Media Contacts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org 
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net 

Church World Service
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New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-2676